My client and I are still waiting to hear about his bid on a Silverlake property being sold by Better Shelter. If you're not familiar, BS does a lot of very nice rehabs, mostly on the eastside.

Other clients and I were so excited to learn that a home they liked in Sherman Oaks was actually available. Yes, it had had other offers, but was not in a bidding war! Sound too good to be true? Well...the agent insisted that her client would take nothing less than full price. The seller needed to find a replacement home, but that was not a contingency for selling the current home. So we wrote a full-price offer. And were then told that the seller needed at least a 30-day rent-back, or longer, after close of a 45 day escrow, as she didn't want to move twice. Long-term rent-backs are extremely rare and very unpopular, so we declined and the negotiation ended. The seller then raised her list price by $10k. Good luck with that...

And here's another reason that inventory may be short: sellers are selling their homes privately. I was about to list a nice home in Woodland Hills, but the neighbors approached the sellers with an offer first. No Realtor is involved.